Meeting on 17 September 2009 at Eesti Pank

Target-2 Securities Estonian National User Group (EENUG)

17 September 2009, from 14.00-15.00
Eesti Pank, Tallinn

Minutes of meeting

Chairperson: Kadri Martin
Secretary: Keiu Sopp

Agenda of the meeting

1. Overview of the events held and activities pursued by the Estonian market participants after the T2S Advisory Group meeting held in June 2009: the meeting of the Experts Network[1]) (3 September 2009), the position of Eesti Pank and EENUG concerning future governance of the T2S project, consulting.
2. T2S Advisory Group meeting, held in London on 23 September 2009: summary of the T2S Advisory Group meeting held in June 2009, and overview of the info session in Milan. Agenda of the meeting of 23 September 2009 and discussion of the most important subjects for Estonia.
3. Description of the T2S accession process
4. Annual plan

   1. Events held. The meeting of the Experts Network on 3 September 2009, the position of Eesti Pank and EENUG concerning future governance of the T2S project, consulting.

Incurring no binding obligations or investment costs on the CSDs, preliminary agreements between the Eurosystem and CSDs were concluded on 16 July 2009. With the support of the market participants and Eesti Pank, a Memorandum of Understanding with the Eurosystem was also concluded by the Estonian Central Register of Securities.

Kadri Martin gave an overview of:

Subsequent activities
Eesti Pank informs the Baltic States and Nordic countries of the common position of Eesti Pank and EENUG regarding future governance of T2S.

   2. T2S Advisory Group meeting, held in London on 23 September 2009: summary of the T2S Advisory Group meeting held in June 2009, and overview of the info session in Milan. Agenda of the meeting of 23 September 2009 and discussion of the most important subjects for Estonia.

Kadri Martin gave an overview of the T2S Advisory Group meeting held in Frankfurt from 15 to 16 June 2009. The main subjects discussed:

• Governance of the next phase of T2S. Even though the current governance structure is designed to prevail until the beginning of 2010 - i.e. until the end of the specification phase - changes have already been introduced in order to enhance the efficiency of the project.
• At the end of March, the T2S Programme Board was established with the decision of the ECB Governing Council for management of the project and handling of strategic issues. The main duties of the T2S Programme Board currently include administrative structure and pricing, as well as submission of proposals to the ECB Governing Council, considering the interests of all parties. The T2S Programme Board is supported by a 40-member T2S Team, operating within the ECB framework.
• The T2S Programme Board will regularly meet with the representatives of CSDs, who will make up the lead group. The purpose of the lead group is to conduct supervision over the work groups who handle the legal and operational issues of the Eurosystem and the CSDs. Andres Lips was nominated as the project manager on behalf of the Estonian Central Register of Securities.
• The change of composition and mandate of the T2S Advisory Group is discussed. Under the current proposal, the T2S Advisory Group will remain a forum uniting all participants - i.e. NCBs, CSDs and final users of the T2S platform (banks, mainly). The number of the final users will be increased at the expense of the seats assigned by the NCBs and CSDs. As regards CSDs, the question of whether the CSD has concluded the Memorandum of Understanding and a binding agreement with the Eurosystem will likely be the criterion for participation in the T2S Advisory Group. As regards NCBs, the circle of central banks is limited to the Eurosystem and NCBs who have proclaimed to the ECB their interest in adding the national currency to the T2S platform currencies, in addition to the euro. NCBs who would not participate in the T2S Advisory Group upon change of governance structure, including Eesti Pank, can be involved in the project within the framework of the ESCB committees.
• Further to the above, and considering the position of the EENUG, Kadri Martin expressed at the T2S Advisory Group meeting dissatisfaction with the restriction of the NCB positions in the Advisory Group, drawing attention to the fact that disclosure of information has been limited within the PSSC framework. Kadri Martin also informed the Advisory Group that the Estonian market assumes that, as soon as the date of adoption of the euro has been officially confirmed and the national CSD has entered into contractual relations with the Eurosystem with regard to the T2S project, the institutions of the country will be treated equally with institutions of other countries exhibiting similar interest. The Chairman of the T2S Advisory Group assured that Estonia's position would be taken into account.
• The usual overviews were provided of the current status of the project, work and consulting of the sub-groups, pricing, etc. Estonia had no further remarks regarding these issues.

Preparation of the positions of the T2S Advisory Group, 23 September 2009:

The following subjects of interest to Estonia were discussed: external T2S governance, eligibility of CSDs, and pricing.

   3. Description of the T2S accession process

Kersti Kiop introduced the description of the accession process, which is currently under preparation. As the T2S Project still has a number of loose ends, the description to be sent to the ECB will be generalised, and relatively laconic. Several loose ends will be tied as soon as a decision is passed regarding Estonia's (non-)accession to the euro zone, and the T2S pricing policy.

Subsequent activities
The Estonian Central Register of Securities will send the description of the accession process to EENUG members for comments and consulting, and submit the final document to the ECB by September 30.

   4. Annual plan

The updated annual plan and future events were reviewed. Kadri Martin informed of the info session to be held in Luxembourg on 7 October 2009 and invited interested parties to participate.

[1] For additional information, visit www.ecb.int/paym/t2s/progress/nugs/html/exp_mtg3.en.html